Under the sanctions, each of us was probably looking for where to buy iphone cheap. There are shops with gray iPhones, outbids on Avito, but trading platforms inspire more confidence. Many do not risk buying a phone on Ali, but they forget that there is also Joom, a Latvian marketplace that delivers goods from China at a fairly low price. I decided to check it out for myself, ordered the iPhone 13 and got on an exciting journey, went through all the stages of accepting the inevitable, learned a lot of new things and still received my order. I’m telling you Should I buy an iPhone on Joom? and what difficulties may arise.
Where to buy iPhone cheaper
In early August, I thought it was time to change my iPhone SE 2020 to another, newer one with a powerful battery and more memory. Of course, there are gray stores that have all models in stock and even have delivery in Russia, but for the sake of interest, I decided buy iPhone on Joom: users in the reviews reported that the delivery takes 3-4 weeks and attached screenshots with order tracking, as well as photos of the received goods. Well, how can you not believe it, especially since the orders were made just a month ago?
Among the reviews, there were also stories that came across locked iPhone with MDM profile and sim card inside. someone was brought broken iPhone in crumpled box, and one customer was allegedly delivered a smartphone without an apple on the back cover (which looks more like an attempt to deceive Joom). In short, there were not so many negative reviews, the vast majority were positive, and there is also a 30-day guarantee from the marketplace itself and refund after 105 days if the goods are lost or found to be of poor quality.
Joom – delivery to Russia 2022
At first, there were no problems with delivery: the iPhone was promptly moved from the warehouse to the seller, and then it was ready for shipment, judging by the tracking in the application. I even thought that by the beginning of September I would have new iPhonebut something went wrong: the status “Parcel departed from Hong Kong” stuck for two weeks.
I looked through the reviews from the seller again and accidentally found a link to the Waiting for Juma Telegram chat, where other buyers also gathered: it turned out that their status was also frozen. You can read it to broaden your horizons: despite the confusion, there is a lot of useful information.
After two weeks, the parcel still appeared in the tracking. True, not at customs in Russia, as we would like, but in Dushanbe. What she was doing there and whether she was at all – still no one knows. They say that someone even thought of contacting customs in Dushanbe and found out that iPhones from China did not come to them.
Official response from Joom support are difficulties with logistics, sanctions and other problems that suddenly appeared that did not exist before. I personally consider the version with quarantine in the Chinese provinces to be the most plausible, but there is one inconsistency: since when does quarantine affect cargo transportation, and why then do other small orders like cases get delivered in almost a week?
There were many versions in the chat: starting with the fact that the entire cargo was stolen or it turned out to be of poor quality, and ending with the fact that seller from Joom sent nothing at all. Unfortunately, support did not give any answers: everything was limited to the branded “keep abreast”.
In general, it is very strange when the support itself does not know where the cargo is and when it will be sent. Okay, okay, if these are small packages with cheap accessories, but not a batch consisting of at least 400-500 boxes of iPhones, each of which costs at least 50,000 rubles, and the total cost is almost comparable to the price of an apartment in Moscow! In total, I spent about a month in such a limbo and already resigned myself to having to wait for a refund.
How to test iPhone before buying
Despite Joom assurances that the iPhone is supplied legally and has no restrictions, it turned out that almost all smartphones are carrier-based. Remember I was talking about SIM card in the new iPhone? It turned out that the seller purchased them from Verizon, but stopped paying a monthly fee for them, as a result of which, after 2 months, the smartphone fell into operator black list. This was verified with a checker.
During this time, the seller, according to those who know Zhdunov, probably did decoupling from the Verizon operator, so when checking in the checker, almost all smartphones were not tied to the provider. True, at the same time, almost all iPhones blacklisted: this means that the smartphone will not work in the USA, and there will be no problems with it in Russia. Joom support insisted on the same, but the iPhone, it turns out, is not so clean. But will such iPhone work in Russia in fact?
Joom package check
If you’re waiting iPhone with Juma or any other expensive order, then track it not in the application, but on the Track24 website (there it is marked faster) and on the Unex customs website to know if it arrived and passed customs clearance. My iPhone 13 showed up at customs early last week and was stuck there for about 5-6 days due to a heavy load.
In Russia, it was delivered in just 4 days by the 5post logistics company directly to the Pyaterochka store in a neighboring house. Some “Zhdunov” iPhones with Juma lost – there were about a dozen users for sure – they were quickly given a refund to their account. But even when receiving an order from Joom, you need to be careful: given that there is a chance to get locked iPhoneyou need to do the following.
- Videotape iPhone unboxing and activation to prove your point to Joom. Thoroughly check the box for opening, and the iPhone for minor scratches.
- Check for a SIM card (almost everyone has one).
- Check iPhone for MDM profile – this way you will make sure that no one else has access to your smartphone. You can do this through the “Profiles” section in the iMazing program.
My iPhone was blacklisted by the operator, but so far no problems with it. Yes, there was a Verizon SIM card inside, but this did not affect the activation either. If you decide to make a return, then write to support when the parcel is at customs – after that the money will be credited to the account very quickly. Also do you have one month warranty from Joomso it’s not all that bad.
Updated: Joom support replied that a full paid test showed the iPhone to be absolutely “clean”. Screenshots have been attached. I have no explanation for this “magic”.
The most important: is it worth buying an iPhone on Joom? In my opinion, no: the price there is about the same as that of gray sellers, delivery is very long, support does not know why (and where) the order is delayed, and there is still a chance to get a locked iPhone. In the worst case, you simply invest a large amount and return only after 2-3 months. They say that the iPhone with Juma can fly off sooner or later operator unlock: if this happens to my iPhone 13, I will definitely talk about it in my article.
